When the decision to move to the Village came I imagined the idea of a blog keeping all my friends up to date on the day to day crazy that is Turkey. Of course since arriving I have been completely overwhelmed and have not had more than 5 minutes to myself, let alone find the time to write this blog. So today I resolved to not leave this desk until I wrote at least a little something to let you all know what has ensued over the past few weeks.
Of course procrastination set in. Rather than writing about our numerous visits to Turkish government offices in an attempt to get a Nüfus Cüzdanı (Turkish Identity card) I was chatting to friends back home on Skype. Rather than blogging about Daughter’s first days in a Turkish school I was caught playing Candy Crush Saga (rather unceremoniously and with photographic evidence provided by said daughter). And finally, rather than introducing you to my new life I generally dilly-dallied about by reading articles about procrastination!
Yes I can safely say that I have spent most of my day doing the absolute opposite of what I had intended. I had thought it would be simple for me to write after all I have done it my entire life. How many novels have I written (or have I started before putting them aside for other more exciting activities). I know that many of you have encouraged me to continue to write however sitting down and talking (or blogging) about my life has proved to be an extremely daunting task! So here I am over analysing my thoughts and rejecting each idea in the process.
It may be that I just have too much that I want to say and that all my thoughts are becoming muddled although if I am honest with myself it is more likely that I feel that my writing is not good enough for public consumption. Having acknowledged this fact confidence in my ability to write this blog or to write anything is now at an all time low and try as I might I cannot put “pen to paper”.
What I can say to you is that we have arrived in the Village and have settled into our new home. Having no option but to hit the ground running, we have quickly adjusted into a daily routine of school and village life. Daughter has made many friends, is surrounded by her family and is, of course, very happy.
I am enjoying my sea change, muddling along with the language and learning the Turkish way of life. My mornings are blissfully my own while Daughter is at school and I can usually be found walking through the markets and using my limited Turkish skills to haggle with the vendors. If that seems too much like hard work I will take My Hurley Dog to the deniz (sea) to watch him run along the sand and chase the wave ripple. Walking to the sea also means a walk through the fish market and past the harbour which makes the dog quiver with excitement. The smells and the stray cats are like manna from heaven to a dog!
The evenings have been warm and we tend to congregate outside my mother in law’s home, eating what can only be described as a Turkish banquet while listening to music (Turkish of course), laughing and talking well into the night.
And, yes, I have gotten down and dirty making chilli paste (which was extraordinarily messy), shovelling what seemed like a never ending mountain of soil in an effort to finish the garden and attempting numerous Turkish recipes (which is more complex than an explanation of the political strife in the Middle East).
So perhaps I have procrastinated today but I promise you that I will begin a new tomorrow and maybe tell you about my spider bite and subsequent trips to the village hospital (yikes!).
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janeyinmersin 